Fall of the Court
by p0ke37
Summary: The battle of William when he fights against the Court to save Albion the Court's evil. Strongly based on Lionhead's "Tales Of Albion" on the Lionhead website. Prequel to my epic, "The Curse of the Mask". :P
1. Introduction

_Legend has is that, when the world was young, Albion was a peaceful land full of tranquility and beauty. The three came from the Void: the Knight, the Queen, and the Jack of Blades. They coveted Albion and demanded that all men bow down before them._

_When the people refused, the Court burned Albion until the earth turned black and the sky was thick with smoke. Then the Court demanded obedience again, only to be refused a second time. This time the Court lifted the sea into the sky and flooded the world._

_A third time the Court demanded that men worship them, promising peace and an end to the misery. Those who survived still refused. So the Court twisted their minds until brother slew brother, parents abandoned their children, and friend turned against friend._

_Finally, the people of Albion bowed to the Court. They and their descendants toiled to raise monuments to those who came from the Void._

-**Fable II : Tales Of Albion, 1. Reign of the Court**

_In the days when the people still suffered under the Court's cruelty, humble blacksmith and his wife had a boy. They named him William Black, and he would become the key to saving Albion._

_Little is known about Williams youth. As a grown man, he amazed others with the powers of his mind, by which he was able to protect his village and perform feats that a dozen other men could not equal. The acts came to be celebrated as the "Powers of Will."_

_William grew obsessed with the Court, determined to find a way to overthrow it. One night, while consulting a mysterious tome, he was suddenly transported from Albion into the Void. Here he met Jack, who sat on a throne surrounded by Ghastly figures. Jack tried to enslave William with the powers of an ornate sword, but William fought back and managed to steal the sword before escaping the netherworld._

_Back in Albion, the sword spoke to William. It called itself the Sword of Aeons, and it promised to help him defeat the Court—but only is William offered his soul in bondage._

_With the Sword of Aeons, William set off to find the Court._

-**Fable II : Tales Of Albion, 2. Birth of William Black**

_William scaled the peak of Ruon, Albion's highest mountain, and challenged the Court to combat. The Knight of Blades appeared first, and wielding the Sword of Aeons, William destroyed him completely._

_Next the Jack of Blades appeared. They fiercely struck at one another until Willaim broke Jack's body. Some say that Jack was not truly slain, and that his soul escaped to the Void._

_The Queen of Blades was the last to face William. For weeks their battle raged across Albion. Mountains were raised and valleys were formed by their mighty blows. At last, William slew the Queen and freed the people from their yoke. They acclaimed William, who now took the title Archon, as their king._

-**Fable II : Tales Of Albion, 3. Fall of the Court**


	2. The Knight of Blades

William Black stomped his foot down on the top of Mount Ruon, the tallest mountain in Albion. He had been climbing the mountain for nearly three days, and for three days he battled against the piercing wind and freezing cold that could only come from being so high up. William climbed the mountain in search of one thing—the Court. The Court was made up of three beings from the Void, of which William must destroy in order to save Albion from it's evil clutches.

William pulled the sword out of it's metal sheath on his back, and grasped the Sword of Aeons in his hand. It was a dark and deadly blade, and yet a blade made of pure beauty. The hilt had a symbol which would one day become the symbol of the Guild of Heroes. The Sword emanated a feeling of evil, but it would help William defeat the Court and complete his quest, at a price. William's soul belonged to the Sword of Aeons now.

William held the sword tightly in his right hand, and with a loud and clear voice, he called out to the mountain tops and the heavens above. "Hear me, oh three of the Court! Hear me, thy foul and evil beasts from the Void! Hear me, and accept my challenge!"

After speaking, the earth trembled violently, and an indescribable voice louder than everything else answered William. "We accept thy challenge, foolish William Black!"

A vortex opened up in the air, and the one called the Knight of Blades came out of the void to face William. He was clad in the darkest ebony platemail from head to toe, platemail of which was stained with the blood of many he had slaughtered. His eyes glowed an evil red from behind his helmet, and chains held his two giant swords from escaping his grasp. The Knight of Blades laughed an evil laugh, and rushed at William with his two giant blades, one in each hand.

William rolled to the left as one of the blades came crashing down, leaving a hole in the mountain with a depth of three or four feet. The Knight of Blades cackled evilly, and swung a plate-covered hand at William. It hit William, and he flew back, perilously close to the edge of the mountain. William rose back up, jumping straight up to avoid another deadly swing from the Knight which would have cleaved Williams head straight off his shoulders. William threw a fireball at the Knight, of which it hit straight in the chest and the Knight stumbled backwards.

"Fool, thou realizeth thous hast challenged a god?" cursed the Knight of Blades.

"Nay," retorted William. "Thy hast challenged a demon!"

With that, William hit aside one of the great swords the Knight swung at him with the Sword of Aeons. Any other sword would have snapped into a thousand pieces from such a blow, but the Sword of Aeons took it easily. The anger of his failure shown as the Knight's evil red eyes glowed an ever darken crimson shade.

The Knight swung both blades at one, one in a horizontal and the other in a vertical motion, straight at William. William used his powers to teleport right behind the Knight, and to brak the chain of one of the Knight's swords. The chain was cleaved right through, as if the Sword of Aeons were being used to cut warm butter. Without his chain linking his sword and arm, the sword flew off the mountain and down below from the force of the Knights swing.

The Knight of Blades swung around fast and indeed kicked William with one of his massive boots. William was hit right in the stomach, and fell backwards. William coughed up blood and bile while the Knight of Blades was about to bring his remaining sword right down on William. William focused on protecting himself, and a blue and warm shield stopped the sword from penetrating William's flesh. The Knight's sword vibrated violently in his hands as he let out a shriek of anger.

William got up and swung the Sword of Aeons in a circular motion around the Knight's wrist. It cut straight through the armor and chain, and severed the Knight's hand and sword from his body. This time, the sword fell off the mountain swinging wildly as it fell.

William brought the blade to the Knight of Blades throat, and expected the Knight to beg for mercy. Instead, the Knight brought his armored fist right into the face of William. William fell backwards, blinded in agony, and the Sword of Aeons did it's duty by staying upright as the Knight of Blades tackled William, hoping to crush him to death. The sword went right through the heart of the Knight of Blades, and as the Knight screamed in agony, the vortex up above was closed, for now at least.

William grabbed the Sword of Aeons and watched as the soul and blood of the Knight of Blades was drained from his body and absorbed into the Sword of Aeons. The earth rembled a second time, and the unidentifiable voice spoke again, although a little different with the Knight dead. "You have defeated the Knight of Blades, bu now you face the Jack of Blades! Prepare to be skinned alive and drove mad before we allow you to die!" And after saying this, the earth trembled again, and the Jack of Blades was sent down from the Void, cackling as he came down to touch the top of the Mountain of Ruon.


	3. The Jack of Blades

The Jack of Blades emanated a shroud of red evil when he touched the ground. The Jack carried a katana with mystic runes in one hand, and he eyed the Sword of Aeons from behind what William could only describe as the most hideous mask ever created. The Jack was garbed in the most evil and horrifying garments possible. He wore an ancient crimson hood and top and leggings of magic, with boots looking to have come back from hell itself. And of course, the Jack had his mask.

The Jack announced to William Black in a cold dry voice, "That Sword belongs to me, William... I will pry it from your dead body when I kill you. Or... you can give it here and save me the trouble!"

Something attacked William's mind. His will power was weakening, and he found himself taking footsteps towards the Jack of Blades. He did all he could to resist the power, but he was weakened from fighting the Knight. His body kept pushing him forward, until he was right in front of the Jack. His arm handed Jack the Sword.

"Drop it," hissed the Jack.

William dropped the Sword of Aeons,and the Jack of Blades bent over to pick it up. When the Jack tried to touch it, however, the Sword sent a fire throughout his arm that made even a being of the Void wince in pain.

"I see what I must do then..." whispered the Jack. "I must kill you first, William Black!"

The Jack of Blades pulled his katana out off his back and swung at William. William rolled backwards, barely missing being decapitated. William used his will power to push the Jack backwards, but the Jack had magic too. The Jack brought a bolt of lightning down from the sky and shot it at William. William caught the bolt and fought it to go back to the Jack of Blades. It hit the Jack, sending the Jack spinning off until he hit the hard snow with a _thud_.

When the Jack recovered, William was diving for the Sword of Aeons, which seemed to be in between the battle of the two. The Jack used his magic to set a temporary forcefield on the Sword, which William hit with his face and bloodied his nose. With blood running down his nose William dodged the throw of the katana by the Jack of blades. He picked the katana up from the ground and hit the forcefield with it. Instead of deactivating the forcefield, it snapped the sword in two.

"Damn ye!" howled the Jack of Blades. "Then this is a battle of magics, indeed!"

The Jack of Blades held his hands in the air and his body floated upwards, continuing to emanate the evil red glow. Suddenly a vortex opened and souls began to come out of it, and to go into the Jack of Blade's mask. His power was growing stronger, and William would not be able to defeat him if he reached his full strength. William jumped up and grabbed the boots of the Jack of Blades, and pulled him down. The Jack hit the ground, and William jumped into the vortex.

In the vortex, he was back in the palace of the Jack of Blades. On the altar was the same Sword of Aeons he had stolen from the Jack earlier. He touched the Sword,and as he did, the forcefield in Albion wore off, and the Sword of Aeons existed in two places at one. He jumped back through the portal to Mount Ruon, and the Jack of Blades was awaiting him with the other Sword of Aeons. They clashed back an forth and used powerful magic for a very long time.

Then, William swung with all of his Will and Strength combined, and the Sword of Aeons in Jacks hand was knocked out of his grasp, and William caught that sword in his grasp. He now held two powerful swords, and as he held them one sword began to change and to emanate a godly, good feeling. To that day, that sword is known as Avo's Tear.

With Avo's Tear and the Sword of Aeons, William Black sliced the Jack of Blades into three pieces. The Jack screamed in anger and agony, and his body evaporated into red smoke and his mask floated up, up, into the Void.

Avo's Tear shimmered in the light of the sun, and was gone.

With that, the vortex opened up the third and final time, and William prepared himself to face the Queen of Blades.


	4. The Final Battle

The Queen of Blades was a terrifying force. She, rather _it_, huge and hideous monster in the familiar shape of a woman with pulsating blue veins against a dark crimson skin tone. The face of the monster was sure to be the most hideous – and to William, the most terrifying – in all of Albion. The Queen had a single eye, vertically stretched across its face and two blood spattered lips with several rows of vicious teeth curved into a wicked smile. The hair of the monster was mangled with maggots and spiders crawling inside.

The monster let out a blood curling shriek, and William summoned up all of his magic to prepare for a vicious attack. The Queen cackled with delight – and to Williams end mask of the Jack of Blades were thrusted out of the portal and the portal closed for the final time. The Queen put on the mask belonging to Jack, and seemed to double in power with an ear-splitting roar.

"This is the final battle then," said William into the cold wind.

With an insane rumble the Queen lunged at William and managed to set him off balance with a brush around his right side. As the monster completed a semi circle around William, it punched William in the side and he flew to his left. William shot off a blast of lightning at the monster, but it absorbed the attack and shot it back at him with more fury. William leaped into the air just as a scorching bolt of white energy singed the earth of Mt. Ruon.

In the air, the monster teleported forward and latched onto William and the two foes shot across the peak into the air. With a hairy paw swipe the Sword of Aeons was knocked out of Williams grasp, and flew down to a boulder where it buried its razor sharp teeth.

The two finally collided with the ground, still exchanging blasts of energy and fury. William toppled onto his back and his breath was knocked out of him as the hideous beast tackled him. It raised a razor sharp claw and sliced Williams right cheek to shreds.

William internalized the pain and let out a huge burst of energy that sent the Queen flying. With rapidly diminishing strength, William put he last of the will into reaching the sword. He melted from the scene below and appeared next to the sword, and as he grabbed it the familiar feeling of power and and strength coursed through his veins. The beast appeared behind him, and with inhuman reaction William turned, dodged a vicious claw swipe, and thrusted the Sword of Aeons through the front Queen of Blades and out the other side.

The earth shook as Albion's true evil was vanquished, turning into dust and vanishing forever. The last thing William saw before he collapsed from fatigue was the mask of the Jack of Blades leering contentedly.

A few weeks later...

William awoke groggily, feeling very warm but yet very sore for some reason. As his eyes opened, the image of several village folk peering over him entered his mind.

"He lives!" exclaimed one very old man.

Suddenly William remembered the battle. Him and the villagers talked for several hours as he explained the final battle.

William was named the Archon, and he led Albion into many years of prosperity and advance.

_In the end, life was great, but there was one thing that bothered William until the day he died. Of all the villagers that rescued him as his life was ebbing away, none of them ever recalled seeing a mask..._


End file.
